Help two recent graduates evacuate their flooded apartment!

Hello Community Members,

I’m Mina Kamara, (right) and my roommate is Kimberly Boateng (left). We are both recently graduated from Columbia university as proud first gen immigrant, low income scholars. Unfortunately, last night (07/14) a major flash flood in NYC damaged our damaged our basement unit apartment due to both the extreme weather and faulty plumbing. Our living situation was already tenuous but the flood has rendered the unit completely unlivable.

The water has exacerbated the already present mold and pest infestation, as well as creating new holes for critters and debris to enter (pictured above).

This morning, the owner of our building ordered our entire unit to be vacated by 07/31. Our landlord ( Lewis Tse, EXCEDE Realty ) has been unresponsive to all tenants and the super since early June and we have no assurance that we will recieve our back rent or security deposits This far, neither the supervisor or the building owner are providing relocation funds or accommodations for us or our other roommates.

The Damages:

The cost of evacuation and relocation under such short notice has put an enormous unexpected financial burden on us. As for water damages, my room was closest to the flooding pipe and I was not home to save many of my things from the water. Anything I had on the floor that was not waterproof now has some type of water damage this is including but not limited to : two suitcases of clothes, a small digital camera, personal artworks, small electronics like several charging cords, over 25 rolls of 35mm film, books from my personal library, etc. I’m thankful, as the damage could have been much worse, however I would love to be able to replace everything that I possibly can! ⭐️

Our primary requests:

This gofund me is going towards replacing my damaged items and to cover the cost of relocation for me and Kim, this includes rental costs, security deposits and lost wages.

Anything helps! Even if you can’t donate please share the link with others or if you have any leads on housing with a quick turnover, that would be appreciated as well! ♥️♥️

xx Mina